The Society of Physics Students and the Hillsdale College physics department will invite other Michigan liberal arts colleges to an undergraduate physics conference next month, the first-ever multi-college science conference  to be hosted at Hillsdale. 

The Hillsdale College Physics Invitational, which will take place on Feb. 21, will offer a keynote speaker, poster presentations, a networking fair, faculty talks, and opportunities to mingle with physics students from across the state. 

Senior Paige Lettow and members of the Society of Physics Students came up with the idea for the conference after they struggled to find other local undergraduate physics conferences.

“We were looking at other conferences, and none of them we would’ve been able to attend, so we started thinking, ‘What if we held a conference at our campus and invited other schools to come at a time that would be more convenient for us?’” Lettow said.

Michael Tripepi, assistant professor of physics, said the departments’ faculty approved the conference after Lettow pitched the idea.

“Paige was really enthusiastic about doing this,” Tripepi said, “And so she put together a proposal to the department, pitching the idea for having this conference, bringing the undergraduate students from different liberal arts schools, and presenting their research. The department was just impressed by the proposal. And so the department said, ‘Well, why not?’”

According to Lettow, the conference aims to provide social, educational, and networking experiences for physics students that don’t come from big research schools. 

“What’s special about our conference is that it is a local conference focused on undergraduate research,” Lettow said. “There are other conferences, but they’re usually harder to get to, so this one is focused on our area within driving distance of Hillsdale.”

Tripepi said the conference fills a need in the undergraduate research space for physics students at small colleges who are not sending students to large research conferences.

“What we’re trying to do is pull together the small liberal arts schools who may not be going to these conferences and who may not have large programs,” Tripepi said. “It’s a way for students that have kind of similar school experiences in physics to kind of connect and share what they’ve been up to.”

Lettow said the best part about the conference will be welcoming physics students from other schools.

“I’m looking forward to seeing everyone there, especially at the poster session, when everyone is going to be walking around, meeting new people, and talking about research,” Lettow said. “I’m excited to see all the schools come together and talk about their love of science.”

Colleges are encouraged to register before Jan 16. 

More information about the conference can be found at https://sites.google.com/view/physics-invitational-2026/home